Prime Cost Control
Food and labor, under control, every week.
The problem
Monthly P&Ls tell you about problems you've already paid for.
By the time a monthly P&L shows food cost up two points, you've paid for four weeks of it. Recipes are costed off invoice prices instead of yield. Pars are set by habit. The schedule is last week's schedule.
Prime cost control means seeing the number weekly and knowing which lever moved it.
What's included
- Recipe costing from yielded cost, not invoice price
- Yield tests on your top proteins and produce
- Par sheets and order guides by day of week
- Invoice checks against agreed pricing and deliveries
- Schedule-to-forecast with labor targets by daypart
- Waste, comp and void tracking
- A weekly prime cost report your managers own
What you should have at the end
- A weekly prime cost number you trust
- Managers who know which lever to pull when it moves
- Recipes, pars and schedules written down, not in someone's head
Who it's for
- Restaurants whose food or labor percentage keeps drifting
- Owners who only see costs when the monthly P&L closes
- Kitchens without written specs, pars or yield data
Price
Project pricing — quoted after a free consult
Flat fee, agreed up front after a free consult. Retainers: 3-month minimum, then month-to-month.
FAQ
Questions about Prime Cost Control
Is this a project or a retainer?
Either. Many owners run it as a Prime Cost Sprint after the audit. It's also built into every Fractional COO retainer.
Will cutting labor hurt service?
Not if it's done right. The goal is staffing to the forecast by daypart, not across-the-board cuts. Slow Tuesday lunch and a packed Friday dinner shouldn't get the same ratio.
Do you work with my existing spreadsheets?
Yes. We'll build on what you have where it works and replace what doesn't.
Related
Restaurant Operations Audit
A fixed-price, on-site deep dive. Every finding comes with a dollar figure and a place on the fix list.
$3,500
Supplier & Vendor Negotiation
Invoice review, rebids on your biggest categories, and contract terms you can actually hold suppliers to.
Quoted after a free consult
Fractional COO
Hands-on operating leadership a few days a month: manager meetings, P&L reviews, cost systems and vendors.
$5,000/mo
Request this service
Start with a free consult.
Tell us a little about your restaurant. We'll follow up to set up a 30-minute call, then tell you honestly whether it's the right fit.
Project pricing — quoted after a free consult
- Call(972) 971-5281
- EmailZack@primecostgroup.com
- Serving Dallas–Fort Worth.
- We respond within one business day.